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by Katie Erickson

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
- 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

This chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 is one of the most commonly quoted passages of the Bible, especially in the context of weddings. But it is very important to look at the context of this passage; it comes right after the section on spiritual gifts and unity yet diversity in the body of Christ. In addition, the verse immediately before this says, “Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31). What is the most excellent way to desire and then use the greater gifts from the spirit? In a word: love.

We’ll look at the first half of this chapter today, and next week we’ll look at the rest. In verses 1-3, we see that the gifts mean nothing if we do not have love.

In verse 1, Paul talks about speaking “in the tongues of men or of angels.” While we have records in Scripture of angels speaking to people using human language (such as Luke 1:13-20 and 26-38), it is believed that there is also a separate language that the angels use that humans cannot understand – what many refer to as speaking in tongues. Paul brings this gift of the Spirit up first because it is believed that the Corinthians were placing too much emphasis on the gift of tongues. Paul also refers to a resounding gong and a clanging cymbal in this verse; these items were used in the worship of God and at the temple (see 2 Samuel 6:5 and Psalm 150:5).

Paul then mentions the gift of prophecy in verse 2. Being able to prophecy, understanding mysteries, and having knowledge are all pointless without love. These mysteries and knowledge are not just worldly but refer to what God is revealing about Himself to us as His people. Even if we have faith that can move mountains (referencing the words of Jesus in Matthew 21:21), it is pointless without love. This faith does not refer to the saving faith we have in Jesus Christ but rather having faith in the ability to perform miracles like moving mountains.

In verse 3, Paul talks about giving all that he has to the poor and experiencing physical hardships. These things can be done without love, but then they, too, are pointless. He would not do these things so that he can boast, but rather out of true Christian love.

In verses 4-7, we see the descriptions of love that are so commonly referenced. Love is described with positive characteristics and negative characteristics. Positively, it is patient, it is kind, it delights in the truth, and it has an attitude that is protective, trusting, hopeful, and persevering. Negatively, we see that love does not envy, boast, be proud, dishonor others, seek self, be easily angered, or keep a record of wrongs.

We know from 1 John 4:7-12 that God is love, so God must embody all of these characteristics of love. We see support for each of these elsewhere in Scripture.

• God is patient for us to come to repentance and faith in 2 Peter 3:9.
• We see God’s kindness in Romans 2:4, which again has a goal of leading us to repentance.
• In Hebrews 11:3, we see that God formed the entire universe out of nothing at His command. This is who God is, and He doesn’t need to boast about it or be prideful. God does not need to envy since there is no one who even comes close to comparing to Him.
• God does not dishonor others because He is holy and perfect, as we see in 1 Peter 1:15-16.
• God shows with His actions that He is not self-seeking; giving His Son to come to earth and die on the cross for the entire world (John 3:16) is the opposite of self-seeking.
• While God does get angry with righteous anger when needed, He is very slow to anger, as we see in Joel 2:13.
• God does not keep a record of our wrongs. We see in Isaiah 43:25 that He remembers our sins no more. Our sins are wiped away because of the sacrifice of Jesus.
• John writes that he has joy when his children walk in the truth (3 John 1:4), which applies to God as well. God delights in truth because He is the truth (John 14:6).
• Psalm 92:15 tells us that there is no wickedness or evil in God, so He cannot delight in evil.
• God always protects us and delivers us, as we see in Psalm 91:14.
• Psalm 71:5 shows us that God is always our hope.
• God’s unfailing love is always with us, so He never fails, as we see in Psalm 33:22.

Not only are these characteristics of God, but we should strive to imitate them as we strive to imitate God. But that is definitely easier said than done! How can we possibly live out this love? The only way is through knowing Jesus Christ. We cannot know what true, Godly love is unless we have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

None of us can live out all these things (or perhaps even one of these things) perfectly, but Christ still loves us in this way so we can attempt to love others like this. Jesus' work of love was one that restores love and restores relationships when our sin breaks them – with God, with each other, and with ourselves. Christ is restoring all of those through the perfect love that we see here.

We are called to lean on the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives to have this kind of love in our lives. It is only through the gifts of the Spirit and His presence in us through faith in Jesus Christ that we can even hope to attempt to live out this perfect type of love.

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